[Hiram]

I made an image backup using the Windows tool. I thought I'd be fine using to to restore W8.1 should I want too. I normally use True Image, but in this instance I didn't.

After a couple of hours of frustration, it seems I have to reinstall W8.1 and restore from there, as it wont work and recognize the W8.1 image files from W10.  Even a W8.1 boot disk wont play the game.

As 'er indoors would say - "what a tit wank".  

PS, I still can't get a image to work I made with Backup and Restore - the SWM files on the disk seem OK, they can be loaded into 7zip and combined - but how to write this to an HDD?

[Hiram]

What I have found out. Windows 10 keys are generic.

Windows 10 Home - YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7
Windows 10 Home SL- BT79Q-G7N6G-PGBYW-4YWX6-6F4BT
Windows 10 Pro - VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
Windows 10 Pro VL-MAK - QJNXR-7D97Q-K7WH4-RYWQ8-6MT6Y

I used a key above to do a fresh install - there is some debate as to whether you could skip the key and just let Windows activate with the hardware hash.

[TheZookie007]

I'm on Windows 7 Home Premium. When I found out that Microsoft had forced a 6+ GB download of Windows 10 on my machine, and had been throwing up that stupid thing in my taskbar every twenty seconds telling me to upgrade, I was really pissed. So now I'm fighting back. Here's how to stop the nagging and delete Windows 10 for good until I decide to upgrade, and not a minute before:

Business Insider: "Microsoft is still driving some Windows 7 users crazy with nagging ads to upgrade"

TechJourney: "Disable & Remove Get Windows 10 Upgrade Reservation Notification & System Tray Icon"

[TheZookie007]

Oh hell no.

Forbes: "Microsoft Admits Windows 10 Automatic Spying Cannot Be Stopped"

[Palomine]

Oh hell no.

Forbes: "Microsoft Admits Windows 10 Automatic Spying Cannot Be Stopped"

From the article:

By default Windows 10 Home is allowed to control your bandwidth usage, install any software it wants whenever it wants (without providing detailed information on what these updates do), display ads in the Start Menu (currently it has been limited to app advertisements), send your hardware details and any changes you make to Microsoft and even log your browser history and keystrokes which the Windows End User Licence Agreement (EULA) states you allow Microsoft to use for analysis.

...it's 2015 and I still marvel at how and why people use Microsoft Windows. The mind boggles at why users would continue to reward a company that behaves like this with their business and loyalty, especially now... years after we're all so much more aware of the data collection we're all already subject to 24 hours a day thanks to corporations and our own government.

And that's to say nothing of all the other reasons to use something other than Windows: bugs, security holes, general GUI stupidity, etc...

I'd be curious to know what percentage of time Windows users are actually using software that is only available for Windows... i.e.: the latest game release or something like that (not Microsoft Office, since there are multiple decent open-source alternatives for that). I know there are plenty of gamers, and some folks use proprietary, custom and/or niche programs that've only ever been released for Windows... but at this point in time, surely many, many users spend most of their hours in front of a PC running a web browser: something that is 100% platform agnostic for all intents and purposes... you can surf the web with any major OS, including those that exist only on tablets and phones.

So, except for when they're running a Windows-only game or app, whyowhy would people tolerate such invasive nonsense and continue to reward Microsoft with their business? Folks are just resistant to change I guess, and to avoid it, they'll put up with almost anything, no matter how ridiculous.

[Hiram]

From the article:

...it's 2015 and I still marvel at how and why people use Microsoft Windows.

I know what you mean. To be honest, the only reason I still use Windows is Office; it is still the best word processor and spreadsheet available. I run a small business, and although I could use Libre Office, it would make my life harder.

There are also plenty of programs that I can't find under GNU/Linux - my hobby is ham radio, and so many of the programs I use or want to use are Windows only. Mind you, there is a big catalogue of ham radio programs for GNU/Linux, but there isn't much hardware support for ham radio gear.

Having said all that, and with the difficulties I may have - I'm not going to take too much more from M$. It wouldn't take much for me to convert to GNU/Linux, it really wouldn't. But as it is, I'm lazy, and Windows works for me.

[Palomine]

I know what you mean. To be honest, the only reason I still use Windows is Office; it is still the best word processor and spreadsheet available. I run a small business, and although I could use Libre Office, it would make my life harder.

There are also plenty of programs that I can't find under GNU/Linux - my hobby is ham radio, and so many of the programs I use or want to use are Windows only. Mind you, there is a big catalogue of ham radio programs for GNU/Linux, but there isn't much hardware support for ham radio gear.

Having said all that, and with the difficulties I may have - I'm not going to take too much more from M$. It wouldn't take much for me to convert to GNU/Linux, it really wouldn't. But as it is, I'm lazy, and Windows works for me.

I'm often a lazy SOB myself Hiram, so I can empathize. However, even though I will admit that MS Word is more kitchen-sink/polished, I go back and forth between it and Libre (or Open) Office on an almost daily basis w/o any trouble at all. I mean let's be honest, for 98% of the word processing most people do most of the time, full-fledged word processors are overkill. Using Libre or Open Office instead of MS Office (I do a lot of spreadsheet work too) is, IME, really a very small inconvenience for all but a very few users who push the envelope of what such programs are capable of (and thus, might not be able to justify switching).

However, I imagine that ham radio tools would largely have been created as free/shareware by hobbyists and that thus most would probably be Windows-only, since it's always been the dominant platform. Which would be a good example of why NOT switching (from Windows to Linux (or Hackintosh if your PC is capable) probably makes sense. I run a custom-written Windows executable for work purposes, so I keep a single modest Windows laptop just for that work.

[Hiram]

Some features just seem to keep me on MS Office rather than Libre.  If I create an invoice document with one PC and save it to OneDrive. I can then go to another PC open up Word and print it off.   Which I find really handy. You can access OneDrive documents from within the program without having to save them to on-line storage and retrieve them later. This works seamless for me on Word.  

Yes, I could so this something like this with Libre, but it would take an extra couple of steps of saving and retrieving to on-line storage.

All the invoices I write - in Word there is a handy pull down to add the date, (usually for me today's date, but not always) - so far I haven't found a way to do that on Libre as easily as I can do it in Word.  Someone will now come along tell me how to.

Its the same with spreadsheets - these days I have them on OneDrive and can access them from any PC. Just so handy. (You can still password documents - which is what I do)

However, I imagine that ham radio tools would largely have been created as free/shareware by hobbyists and that thus most would probably be Windows-only,[/color]

Yes, but there are loads of Ham Radio programs on GNU/Liunx, where there would be an issue is programming firmware updates or memory dumps. you're going to need Windows for that for sure.

[Palomine]

Some features just seem to keep me on MS Office rather than Libre.  If I create an invoice document with one PC and save it to OneDrive. I can then go to another PC open up Word and print it off.   Which I find really handy. You can access OneDrive documents from within the program without having to save them to on-line storage and retrieve them later. This works seamless for me on Word.  

Yes, I could so this something like this with Libre, but it would take an extra couple of steps of saving and retrieving to on-line storage.

All the invoices I write - in Word there is a handy pull down to add the date, (usually for me today's date, but not always) - so far I haven't found a way to do that on Libre as easily as I can do it in Word.  Someone will now come along tell me how to.

Its the same with spreadsheets - these days I have them on OneDrive and can access them from any PC. Just so handy. (You can still password documents - which is what I do)
Yes, but there are loads of Ham Radio programs on GNU/Liunx, where there would be an issue is programming firmware updates or memory dumps. you're going to need Windows for that for sure.

Presumably, this "OneDrive" functionality requires the two PCs to be connected in some fashion... via the internet or local ethernet or whatever... unless Microsoft somehow uses actual magic to exchange the data. I generate invoices and create/share spreadsheets all the time too (that damn thing called "work" ) but of course, like countless millions of other people, I use Google Drive (formerly called Google Dox) and any browser from any device/on any computer, provided it has a net connection of course (though you can do offline edits w/o a connection, I never have).

Of course (also) though I mostly output PDFs from Google Drive for invoices, spreadsheets, etc..., you can output the files as standard file types if you want to edit them later in Office or whatever.

I haven't seen a pull-down menu for invoice cells in Google Drive spreadsheets (for a date, etc... as you say) and yes, that would be a handy thing. It may exist, or maybe not... I dunno.

[TheZookie007]

The #1 reason why so many people stay on Windows: ignorance (that is to say, ignorance of the alternatives).

The #2 reason: inertia ("it'd be too hard to switch to something else, let me stay with what I know").

The #3 reason: FUD (fear, uncertainty & doubt)

I'm making a bootable clone of my hard disk just in case, and maybe I'll be able to purchase an OEM version of Win7 as a backup. On my Wintel PC, unless something catastrophic happens, Windows 7 will be my last Windows OS. Enough is enough.

[Hiram]

Presumably, this "OneDrive" functionality requires the two PCs to be connected in some fashion...

Yes - but when you do a save, or save in Office, instead of local storage you can opt to save direct to OneDrive. So when I go to another PC and open Word (I need to be logged in to MS account via the programme) I get a list of all the docs I've accessed on both machines;  I can then open one very easily.  You can also pin documents to this list, which I do with address labels. I found this feature by relative accident, but now I know it is there, I use it all the time.

I haven't seen a pull-down menu for invoice cells in Google Drive spreadsheets (for a date, etc... as you say) and yes, that would be a handy thing. It may exist, or maybe not... I dunno.

Just about to write an invoice as it happens. I attach a picture of how easy dates are to do in Word 2016.

[TheZookie007]

Man, fuck Win10.

Barnacles Nerdgasm: "Disable Windows 10 Spying - Privacy & Security"
Tek Syndicate: "The Tek 0191 | Windows 10: Your Own Creepy Stalker"

[Palomine]

Not to change the subject, but does anyone think that Microsoft is charging OEMs significantly less for Windows 10 licenses, at least maybe using a sliding scale where the Windows license is cheaper if it's pre-installed on low-end hardware?

I ask only because during the past few weeks that I've been receiving a veritable flood of promo code emails from Fry's for the holiday shopping season, there's been quite a few low-end laptops (with Atom CPUs for about $100, or with Celerons for maybe $20-30 more... also a few other entry-level CPUs mixed in near those price points, even a quad-core CPU now and then) that come with Windows 10. Typical configurations are 2G of RAM and 32G SSD... some are even name-brand: Dell, HP, etc... and occasionally, there's even a touch-screen convertible model offered (though to my mind, some of the lower-cost versions of those are more akin to tablets with keyboards than they are to laptops).

Obviously, if a cheap/low-end laptop retails for $110-140, it doesn't seem likely that MS is getting half to two thirds of that sum for the Win10 license. So I'm assuming they charge OEMs significantly less for Win10 when it comes on these very modest machines. Does anyone out there know this to be the case? I'm just curious.

Tangentially, this flood of low-price entry-level Win laptops are competing with the even larger flood (judging by the Frys ads) of low-end Android tablets (Google charges OEMs absolutely nothing for the Android license of course). These are usually in the 7" to 10" size range, and generally have about 8 to 16GB of storage (sometimes as much as 32). Prices start at just about $29 for the weakest models (probably adequate for only light surfing and basic apps) up to about $100. for bigger/somewhat stronger models that often include a keyboard/case.

I'm not in the market for ANY of these budget machines (never a shortage of old PCs and laptops in my garage) but I was just curious as to Microsoft's licensing charges when it comes to these inexpensive devices.

[SwitcherX]

MS will drop the cost of licenses to OEM to however low they need to to get Windows on the computers.  If Windows is on your computer you're locked in to the Microsoft world.  If you run Linux, Microsoft can't make anything off of you.

A while ago, I think Munich (South Korea?) announced that they were going to switch all of the government computers to Linux.  Microsoft either gave them licenses or paid them to install Windows.

[TheZookie007]

Not to change the subject, but does anyone think that Microsoft is charging OEMs significantly less for Windows 10 licenses, at least maybe using a sliding scale where the Windows license is cheaper if it's pre-installed on low-end hardware?

I can bet on it. There's no other way to explain it.